The right wing Media Research Center (MRC) is in a tizzy because the evil, librul media isn't obsessing, as is Fox News, about what conservative Catholics are calling "unprecedented" lawsuits filed by Catholic entities against the evil, librul Obama HHS. This whine is fast becoming part of the dialogue on Fox News which never wastes an opportunity to feature their patented "outrages" against American Christians. As reported by the MRC blog "Newsbusters," dedicated to ferreting out evil, librul bias in the non "fair & balanced" media, good conservative Catholic Eric Bolling mentioned this travesty to fellow conservative Catholic and - drum roll please - MRC honcho Tim Graham when Bolling filled in for Neil Cavuto last week. Bolling and Graham suggested that this Catholic "diss" was coordinated by an Obama loving press. On Friday's Fox & Friends, Mike Huckabee was asked about why the press was ignoring this. And yesterday, even Chris Wallace, in a discussion of the mandate with Washington DC's Cardinal Wuerl, used the MRC's "data" in one of the questions. So a "fair & balanced" "news" show sources from an agenda driven source? Who knew!

Unlike Bill Hemmer'sthreeday Catholic agitprop series and Jim Angle's biased "in-depth" report, Wallace actually acknowledged other realities. He noted that the White House says that this is a woman's health issue. (The Cardinal, of course, said that it's not about contraception but - ta,da - "religious liberty.) Wallace explained the "compromise language of the mandate which, in requiring the insurance companies to cover birth control, takes the onus off of the Church. (The Cardinal said that it didn't matter) Wallace said that the administration is saying that they will accommodate the concerns about self-insurance. (The Cardinal said that it didn't matter). So far so good - but then

Wallace, with a clever right punch, delivered the money quote and made "Newsbuster" Tim Graham very happy:

"I don't know if you've heard about this. But if you haven't, I'll inform you. What do you make of the fact that the broadcast network spent grand total of 19 seconds on their evening newscast -- 19 seconds -- covering the lawsuits by the 43 Catholic organizations; what do you make of that?"

The Cardinal said that it was "puzzling" because the media was focusing on the Pope's butler. (LOL, it's a Fox News website lede!) His eminence didn't say that the Pope's butler has some information that could expose even Vatican corruption. However, later in the discussion he said he wasn't "concerned about something that media has reported inItaly about something that someone said is going on." Wallace continued the meme with a question about whether this reflected "bias on the part of the networks." The Cardinal didn't know but repeated that this is about - ready for it - "religious liberty."

As a propaganda two-fer this was classic. Not only was the non-Fox media criticized but a platform was provided for the meme of the persecuted Catholic which includes mention of the main Fox/Bishop's message about - drum roll please - religious liberty. And what made it even more special was that the principal talking point was sourced from a right wing "media" group with whom Fox News has a very special relationship. Right wing media does make for some interesting bedfellows - but in a strictly chaste, Christian, and very heterosexual way, of course!

@ Michael Thal- If you lived in the South during that era or a little before you also know the KKK was started and promoted as a “christian” organization and was almost as rabidly anti-catholic and anti-immigrant as it was racist anti-black. I don’t know that Catholics have ever been widely "loathed"in this country but their religion has generally been seen as some sort of cult of the personality in the person of the Pope and also not quite mainstream.They’ve also traditionally been one of the more conservative religious organizations so it’s almost inevitable that they and the right wing’s privately owned propaganda organ would find some accommodation with each other.

Footnote:BTW, this was written from the perspective of a life-long non-practicing Catholic who admires many of their teachings and charitable work. I’m just not a fan of the hierarchy or what some of their universities are doing.